Statistical Fragility of Endoscopic Lumbar Decompression Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

ABSTRACT: Study DesignSystematic Review.IntroductionRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) on lumbar endoscopic decompression inform treatment decisions for disk disease, radiculopathy, and lumbar spinal stenosis. This study assessed the fragility of statistical outcomes in these RCTs.MethodsPubMed, Embase, and MEDLINE were queried for RCTs reporting dichotomous outcomes with at least 1 endoscopic decompression arm. The fragility index (FI) and reverse FI (rFI) represented the number of event reversals needed to change significance for significant and nonsignificant outcomes, respectively. The fragility quotient (FQ) was calculated by dividing FI by sample size. Subgroup analysis was performed by outcome type.Results37 RCTs met the inclusion criteria for analysis. A total of 160 outcomes were analyzed.

SUBMITTER: Mohamed KS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12476376 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature